⚔ Battlefields of the World

Battle of Mubo 1943

Battle of Mubo: Australian 24th Battalion patrol Mubo July 1943
Image: Short, Gordon Herbert, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date22 April 1943Wikidata
Year1943Wikidata P585 (point in time)
EraWorld War II era (1939–1945)derived from year
LocationPapua New GuineaNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentOceaniaNatural Earth
War / conflictWorld War IIWikidata P361
Coordinates-5.5000, 141.0000Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Mubo was a series of actions in the Mubo area of the Territory of New Guinea between Australian and Japanese forces which took place between 22 April and 14 July 1943, during World War II. The battle formed part of the wider Salamaua–Lae campaign, and was fought in the early stages of the campaign. The battle followed the successful defence of the airfield around Wau by the Australians in late January 1943, after the Japanese had attempted to infiltrate the Australian positions with two infantry battalions.

After the fighting around Wau, the Japanese withdrew to the high ground around Mubo, where they were followed up by elements of the Australian 17th Brigade. In late April and early May, the Australians made several attempts to take several Japanese positions around Mubo, but were subsequently turned back by the Japanese who fought stubbornly to hold their positions. In early May, the Japanese launched a heavy counter-attack which fell against an isolated Australian company, who fought off the attack and inflicted heavy losses. After flanking moves failed in early July, Australian efforts to secure Mubo were renewed and the Japanese were finally forced to withdraw from the area towards Mount Tambu in mid-July.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Mubo (revision 1370450710), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

-5.5000, 141.0000 · Papua New Guinea

Google Maps OpenStreetMap

Nearby battles

Other battles of the World War II

All 178 battles of the World War II →

Browse more: battles in Papua New Guinea · Oceania · World War II era battles

Further reading